Scott ‘volunteered’ to lobby Pence on tobacco regulations for political donor

TALLAHASSEE — Shortly after the 2016 elections, Gov. Rick Scott promised a tobacco company — which had just given $50,000 to his political committee — that he would directly lobby Vice President Mike Pence on a regulatory issue that could cost the company millions of dollars.

The breakfast meeting with Scott was set up by Nick Iarossi, a lobbyist and Scott fundraiser, for his client, Jacksonville cigar giant Swisher International. The company wanted changes to FDA regulations.

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“Governor Scott volunteered to speak with Vice President Pence and the transition team about the issue,” Iarossi wrote in a Nov. 21, 2016, email to Diane Moulton, director of executive staff in Scott’s office.

Scott was one of the most high-profile surrogates for the Trump-Pence campaign, not only supporting the ticket early, but also running a pro-Trump super PAC that raised $20 million. Scott and Pence have remained close and have had frequent meetings since Trump took office last January.

The discussion about the breakfast meeting came in emails obtained as part of a public records request.

A spokesperson for Scott said Friday that the governor did not discuss the issue with the vice president. The vice president’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Joe Augustus, a Swisher senior vice president, told POLITICO that the company has no record that Scott reached out to Pence. “I have no idea if he made any contacts on behalf of Swisher with anyone outside his office,” he said.

When asked if the $50,000 contribution to Scott’s political committee, “Let’s Get to Work,” had anything to do with the breakfast meeting or Scott’s help on the regulatory issue, Swisher responded: “Absolutely not.”

“The topic … was not even supposed to come up, because it’s a federal issue,” Augustus said. “There was no specific agenda, he [Scott] just asked us about some of our issues.”

The $50,000 check, which was reported by the Scott committee on Nov. 15, 2016, is the single biggest Florida political contribution the company had given in Florida in more than two decades. Augustus said the large contribution was given because the company supports Scott’s agenda.

“We have always been supportive of the governor,” he said. “He has done a very good job and always been supportive of our issues.”

Augustus said he has no record of Scott reaching out to Pence, but roughly two months after the initial email, Moulton forwarded Iarossi’s original email to Cynthia Berry, who at the time was managing the confirmation process of former HHS Secretary Tom Price. He resigned in September after POLITICO reported his extensive use of chartered flights.

“The governor asked that I forward this information to Secretary Price,” Moulton wrote in the Feb. 2 email, which was sent a week before he was formally confirmed by the Senate.

The policy issue itself was over the “predicate date” outlined in FDA regulations for new tobacco and nicotine products like e-cigarettes. The FDA used Feb. 15, 2007, as the “predicate date,” which means new products introduced over that time would now have to go through costly additional regulatory requirements. Cigar manufacturers' new items released since that time could also be impacted, as a result they have joined other tobacco industry entities pushing for a change in the predicate date, which Congress has not yet done.

“Governor, we hope that you will consider informing Vice President-elect Pence about the predicate date issue so that it may be considered as the transition team appoints the Secretary of HHS and FDA leadership,” read talking points that Iarossi attached to his original email to Scott’s office.

They were included when the email was forwarded to Price’s team in February.

The two know each other “personally,” and throughout January 2016 — a month before his office forwarded the email — Scott was working to help Price’s team with his confirmation process.

Phil Blando, a Trump transition spokesman, was regularly in contact with Jackie Schutz, then Scott’s communications director who now serves as his chief of staff. He discussed Scott serving as a media surrogate on Scott’s behalf; on Scott reaching out to Florida health care groups to support Trump, and requests that Scott do social media posts expressing support for Price’s confirmation.

“As someone who knows Dr. Price personally, we need your help to showcase Dr. Price’s strong qualifications to be the next HHS Secretary,” read a letter Blando sent to Schutz in January 2016.

That packet of information included Price talking points and suggestions for how to message his background in media interviews. Scott’s office did write a statement supporting Price and a series of tweets saying he was “looking forward to working” with Price.